Baby boomers embrace vegetarianism, but such diets have risks as well as benefits

You can find iron in dark green leafy vegetables, prune juice, dried beans and bulgur. Interestingly, studies indicate that iron deficiency appears to be no more common in vegetarians than in meat-eaters, possibly because vegetarians know they are at risk and eat to deal with that. “In our lab we have noticed that when people become vegetarian, the amount of iron in their diet actually goes up. By eating legumes and green leafy vegetables, they tend to consume larger amounts of the nutrient, making up for the worse absorption of ‘non-heme’ iron,” says Barnard.

Another source of concern for some boomers who go vegetarian is calcium. “Post-menopausal women are prone to osteoporosis, which has mistakenly prompted some doctors to recommend dairy products,” says Barnard. “However, the Nurses’ Health Study conducted at Harvard University showed that women who drank milk had as many fractures as those who avoided it.” Unless vegans consume a lot of fortified tofu and soy milk, as well as green leafy vegetables and beans, their intake of calcium may be inadequate. A review of nine studies published in 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that the risk of fracture in vegans is about 10 percent higher than in omnivores. The good news is that lacto-ovo vegetarians (those who eat diary products and eggs) are not any more likely to break their hips or wrists than people who eat meat.

If you are a boomer considering cutting your meat intake, you should make sure you will be getting enough zinc, which is important for proper functioning of the immune system. Without it, bodies are less resistant to pathogens, and wounds take longer to heal. Yet older people commonly don’t meet their needs for this nutrient.

According to the authors of a 2010 article in Nutrition Reviews, insufficient zinc in diet as people age can lead to more frequent bouts of pneumonia, and more complications. Pneumonia is one of the five leading causes of death for older Americans. But if your diet is well planned (consider talking to a dietitian) — and, once you get older, supplemented — that should not be a problem.

So how old is too old to go vegetarian? “A hundred twenty-three,” Barnard laughs. “And I’m only saying this because the longest-lived person was 122. On balance, cutting out meat from your diet, even if only a little, is a step in a good direction.” Just make sure you get the proper vitamins and minerals.